Diaboliad and Other Stories

In Bulgakov’s ‘Diaboliad’, the modest and unassuming office clerk Korotkov is summarily sacked for a trifling error from his job at the First Central Depot for the Materials for Matches, and tries to seek out his newly assigned superior Kalsoner, responsible for his dismissal. His quest through the labyrinth of Soviet bureaucracy takes on the increasingly surreal dimensions of a nightmare. This early satirical story, reminiscent of Gogol and Dostoevsky, was first published in 1924 and incurred the wrath of pro-Soviet critics. Along with the three other stories in this volume which also feature explorations of the absurd and bizarre, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the artistic development of the author of ‘Master and Margarita’.

Contains: Diaboliad, No.13 – The Elpit, Workers’ Commune Building, A Chinese Tale, The Adventures of Chichikov.

Diaboliad and Other Stories is part of Alma Classics’s The Mikhail Bulgakov Collection which includes A Young Doctor’s Notebook, A Dog’s Heart, Black Snow, Diaboliad and Other Stories, Notes on a Cuff and Other Stories, The Fatal Eggs, The Life of Monsieur de Moliere, The Master and Margarita, The White Guard

Alma Classics is committed to make available the widest range of literature from around the globe. All the titles are provided with an extensive critical apparatus, extra reading material including a section of photographs and notes. The texts are based on the most authoritative edition (or collated from the most authoritative editions or manuscripts) and edited using a fresh, intelligent editorial approach. With an emphasis on the production, editorial and typographical values of a book, Alma Classics aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading the classics.